Rise in property crime in Calgary linked to opioid crisis
Posted May 16, 2018 9:58 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
New numbers show the wide-reaching effects of the opioid crisis in Calgary.
A new School of Public Policy report finds property crime has spiked 50 per cent since 2015.
Professor of Economics Ron Kneebone said while the increase in break and enters, robberies and vehicle thefts are also closely linked to the start of the recession, as the economy has improved, the crime hasn’t waned.
And, the incidents are bucking trends.
“There used to be a great deal of seasonality in property crime — it used to be higher in the summer and less in the cold months. That has now gone away,” he said.
Alberta Health Services data shows deaths from Fentanyl tripled in 2015, about the same time the recession really took hold in the province.
Kneebone said it shows we’re all paying the cost.
“Certainly those who die as a result of using a drug or suffer other consequences suffer the most cost, but we all do in the form of higher property crime,” he said.
The report suggests the cost of recessions fall most heavily on those who suffer job loss, social and addiction problems, and more policies are needed to address these issues.
